The Lord's Prayer | Sunday Message

Hey there, thanks for listening to the Greg Laurie Podcast, a ministry supported by Harvest Partners. I'm Greg Laurie, encouraging you. If you want to find out more about Harvest Ministries and learn more about how to become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org. Let's pray together. Lord.

As we have just sung, We Love You. And we want to know you better. And we want to learn how to pray more effectively. And you tell us so much about prayer and what we call the Lord's prayer.

So, as we take the time to look at it, to think about it, to ponder it. Help us, Lord, to understand how our prayer life can grow. As the disciples came to you 2,000 years ago and said, Lord, teach us to pray. We say the same thing today: teach us to pray. Speak to us through your word, we would ask now in Jesus' name.

Amen. You can always see that. Why don't you grab your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 11? And the title of my message is The Lord's Prayer. Heard about a pilot that was flying a plane load of passengers to their destination and suddenly the rudder malfunctioned.

And so he contacted the air traffic controller and said, the rudder is malfunctioning. What should I do? The air traffic controller said now, Captain. Stay calm. And repeat after me.

Wings flap. Check. Velocity, check. Altitude. Check.

And then the plane sort of straightened itself out and it was good for a few moments. And then the pilot radios back about five minutes later and he says, Something is wrong, something with the starboard engine. The air traffic controller once again says to him very calmly, now Captain, just calm down and repeat after me, wings flap, shack. Velocity check. Altitude check.

Another moment passes and the pilot says, Mayday, Mayday, both engines are gone. The air traffic controller says, now Captain. Say this calmly after me. Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name.

The Lord's Prayer. I love the Lord's Prayer. Most people have heard it. Many know it. It's a beautiful prayer.

I don't know if the Lord Himself ever prayed it, actually, though we call it the Lord's Prayer. The Bible never calls it such. Because Jesus never needed to pray, forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us, but He gave it. To his disciples, and he gave it to us as a model for all prayer. This is what prayer should look like.

Now, there's nothing wrong with praying the Lord's Prayer verbatim. And in fact, I think it's a powerful. Prayer to pray in certain situations. I remember not too long ago, I was called to the hospital. And a friend of mine had a son, a young man.

Who was running a race actually, and he had a heart attack and died. And there he was in this hospital room. His relatives were gathered around him. It was a very sad situation. I shared with them some truths from scripture and the hope that we have because this young man had put his faith in Christ.

And it just occurred to me we should all pray the Lord's Prayer. I said, would you just pray this with me? Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. What a powerful prayer that is. And it's a prayer that we can all pray, but again, as I said, it is a model, it is an infrastructure for prayer. Have you ever gone and looked at model homes?

You know, like maybe your housing tract isn't built yet. But you have three or four model homes, and they say, This is what the homes will look like. And you walk into these homes, and no one lives in, but they have photos of the family, and then they have things you know laying around the house. That doesn't look like my house, I can tell you that, because we have all the clutter and things that we acquire. But they say, This is what the home will look like eventually.

And so, in the Lord's Prayer, it is a model or a structure to follow for all of our prayers. But here's the question: why don't we pray more? How many of you feel like you should pray more? Raise your hand. I would hope all your hands would probably go up.

Mine is up. I know I could. I know that I should pray more than I do. Billy Graham was once asked if he had any regrets in life, and his response was, yes, I wish I had prayed more. and spend more time telling the Lord how much I love him.

And I think we all recognize we could pray more. I read that the average Christian prays one minute a day. And I bring this up because sometimes they'll say, well, the reason I don't pray more is because I simply don't have the time. My response to that is, how much time do you spend on social media every day? I read that the average person checks their social media account 17 times a day.

Basically, that's once every waking hour. And frankly, I think there are others that spend a lot more time checking that. We spend five hours a day watching television. What if we gave half of that to prayer? It could make all the difference in the world.

We may not think prayer is important. We would never admit that. I don't think prayer is important. But if we really thought it was important, why wouldn't we pray more? And if prayer isn't all that important, why would Jesus Himself, the very Son of God, spend hours in the evening?

praying to his father in heaven. Maybe It's because we don't think prayer really works. We probably wouldn't admit that, but maybe we don't think it. And I think if you feel that way, maybe it's because you're not praying God's way. God actually wants us to pray more.

There's an interesting passage in Isaiah 59:16 where it says that the Lord saw there was no man who would intercede. There was no person who would pray and he wondered. And the word wondered can be translated, he was astonished. In other words, God was astonished, his people didn't pray more. Why are you guys not praying more?

Because does not the Bible say you have not because you ask not? Think about what God could be doing in your life if you would just pray about it more. The Bible says, pray about everything. Don't worry about anything. What if we prayed as often as we worry?

Well, that's exactly what we should do, even more. Jesus said men ought always to pray and not to give up.

So, this is something we all should be engaged in. And here now is Jesus. responding to a request. His disciples come to him and say, Lord, Teach us to pray like John the Baptist taught his disciples to pray. And so he said, okay, after this manner, therefore you should pray, our Father who art in heaven, and so forth.

So he shows us straight away that prayer is something that can be learned. Prayer is something that we can become better at with the passing of time. I mean, imagine if you enrolled in a college and you could have the greatest communicators of all time speaking on various subjects. You could study music under Beethoven. or take a drama class from Shakespeare.

Or political science taught by Thomas Jefferson, or a philosophy class taught by C.S. Lewis. How about a class on prayer by Jesus Christ? I would be in that class, wouldn't you?

Well, that's exactly what this is when he teaches us how to pray. I wonder if you remember the first time you prayed. I remember after I became a Christian, the Christian said to me, Hey, you know, pray, pray about things, and God will hear your prayers. I'd never prayed in my life. For the most part, I'd said help occasionally, but not really praying.

So I said, okay. I prayed for a new Bible because I had a really weird Bible someone gave me. It was an old beat-up Bible with popsicle sticks glued together in the shape of a cross. I thought, this is not a legit Bible. I went down to a little Christian bookstore and I saw the most beautiful Bible.

It was black leather cover, gold pages, ribbons coming out of the bottom. I said, I want that Bible, but I couldn't afford it. And so I prayed, God, I pray that you will provide me with that Bible. And I got a phone call not long after that, and it was my grandmother. Who I'd lived with for some time during my childhood.

And she said, Craig, I heard that you became a Christian and I want to buy you a Bible. Find a really nice one. Yes, my first answer prayer. Do you remember the first time you prayed publicly? That's not easy to do, is it?

I remember I was in a big prayer circle. And everyone was praying a little prayer. And you know, the problem: if you're at the end of the prayer circle, everything's been prayed for. And so I had to think, I'm going to pray for this. And then someone prayed for that.

I'll pray for this other thing.

Someone prayed for that. By the time it came to me, I had nothing to say. And I was so self-conscious of my words. I'm praying this prayer out loud, and everyone here is judging me.

So we all know what it's like to pray for that first time, but here now is the model for all prayer. And I want us to read it together.

Now, on the screen, we have the Lord's Prayer. This is Matthew's version of it. And so we're going to read it together. If you wouldn't mind, let's read it from the screen because when you have a bunch of different translations, it gets a little confusing, right?

So we'll read the one from the screen together. Are you ready? Our Father in heaven has heard Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, for yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen. There it is, the Lord's Prayer. Thank you and goodbye. I mean I could just stand, could I not?

Would you like me to stop right now? Don't nod yes. If you're taking notes, here's point number one. We pray to a Father in heaven who loves us. We pray to a father in heaven who loves us.

We need to view God as he is presented in the scriptures as a father. But what kind of a father is he?

Well, thinking about the parable of the prodigal son. told by Jesus. that shows us what God is like. We are praying to a father who loves us, who longs for a relationship with us. We are praying to a father who misses us when we go astray and he longs for our return.

We are praying to a Father in heaven who loves to bless us because Jesus said, It is your Father's good pleasure to give to you the kingdom. He's not a distant deity, he is a close father. That you can actually call Abba. We're told in Romans 8:15, you've not received a spirit of bondage that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you've received God's Spirit because He's adopted you, and you now can call Him Abba Father.

Abba is the Hebrew equivalent of daddy or papa. If you go to Israel today, you'll see the little children calling out for Abba, their daddy, or Ema, their mommy. And so it's a term of affection, it's a term of closeness, and so this is a father that is our Abba. We can talk to him. We can communicate with him.

You know, sometimes we're overly formal. In our prayers, I mean, imagine being at your dinner table with your mom and dad, and you needed some salt, and you said, Dearest Father, I beseech thee to give to me the now. You just say, Dad, would you pass the salt? That's entirely appropriate. He is your father, he is your dad, so you can bring your needs before him.

And he is a faithful father who wants to bless you.

Now, here's a few things to know about your father in heaven. We call them the attributes of God. Number one, God is omnipotent. Omnipotent, omnipotent, which means he has unlimited power. Otherwise, how could he answer our prayers?

Over in Jeremiah 32, he says, Ah, Lord God, you made the heavens and earth, and there is nothing too hard for you. And then we're told in Matthew: For with God nothing is impossible. Your God has unlimited power, but your God also is omniscient, which means he's all-knowing. How else could he know what you are facing? In 1 John 3.20, we read, God knows all things.

But not only that, but your God is also loving. He's looking out for your welfare and whatever he allows to happen. Goes to the filter of his love for you. Also, I would add: your God is omnipresent. How else could he be there when you need him?

He's present everywhere simultaneously. We're told in Jeremiah that the Lord fills the heavens and the earth, and so he's there for you. your Father who art in heaven.

Now I don't know what kind of earthly dad you had or have. As you know, I didn't have a father growing up, so literally, I looked to television fathers for direction. And one of my favorite shows was Father Knows Best.

Now, let me say, those shows back in the 60s were a lot different than our television today. Today, fathers on sitcoms or in movies or whatever else you're seeing is not always portrayed in a positive manner. These dads from those old sitcoms like Father Knows Best and Leave It to Beaver and The Andy Griffith Show were kind of smart dads. They were caring dads, and while the father was talking to Beaver in his den, About whatever misadventure he had found himself in, I'd be listening, like, okay, I need some fatherly wisdom. But I love Father knows best, and that's true of our lives as well.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. The word hallowed means set apart. In other words, I set God apart in my life. You know, in most homes, you will have a wall or a shelf. dedicated to your family.

It might be photographs of your family. It might be trophies that your children won because that's important to you. And so it's featured prominently in your home. I had the privilege of being in Washington, D.C. around Easter, before Easter, I should say, for an Easter lunch at the White House.

And while we were having our meal, my phone kept buzzing, but I couldn't exactly look at it. I mean, I was sitting there listening to the President of the United States. I don't want to be checking my phone. And I wasn't seated that far from him either, and he kept glaring at me anyway. Not really, but you know.

Just, I can't answer this phone. Why is my phone buzzing? Finally, he's done, and I flip my phone over, and my wife is texting me, and she's saying, Jeanette Rubio, who is the wife of Marco Rubio, wanted to know if you're at the White House. I told her yes. She said Marco, her husband, is in his office in the West Wing, and he wants you to come see him.

I said, okay, yes, I want to do that.

Now, we met the Rubios 11 years ago in Hawaii when I was speaking at a married couples conference. And after I was done speaking, someone came up to me and said, Marco Rubio is here and would like to meet you. I said, the Marco Rubio, Senator Rubio? Yes. And so I met him and we became friends, and they both loved the Lord and very strong in their faith.

And love to study the Bible. And so, you know, we become friends over the years. And now, of course, Marco Rubio is the Secretary of State. And I'm a little biased, but I think he's the best Secretary of State we've ever had. Yeah.

So we went over to his office in the west wing of the White House, and we went into his office and on the walls Of his office are not photographs of him with various foreign dignitaries, as one might think. He's met them all. But instead, on his walls are photographs of his family. And the largest photograph of all, which really shocked me, was of me. Which I gave him recently.

No, no, that's a joke. It's all joke.

Now the largest photograph in his office was his son playing football. His son is a very accomplished football player. He's playing college ball and so That was what was important to him, and I love that. I sat in his office saying, Here's what matters to this man. Yes, he's very accomplished in his job, and he has met the most important people in the world, but yet the photographs on his wall are of what matters to him, which is his wife, his family.

And I think that in the wall of our life, so to speak, what is on your wall, what is on your trophy shelf, what is the center of your life? It should be, of course, our family, but even more than that, our faith in Jesus Christ, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed, set apart be your name. And I should be able to say, Hallowed be thy name over anything I am about to do. Before I do whatever it is I'm going to do, Can I do it for the glory of God? Can I write it over my career choice?

Hallowed be thy name. Can I write it over the friends I hang around with? Hallowed be thy name. Can I write it over the TV programs I watch or the music and podcasts I listen to? Can I write, hallowed be thy name, over the social media I consume?

That's very important because if I can't ask the Lord to bless it, then I shouldn't do it.

So maybe when you got up this morning Could you write, hallowed be thy name, over what you're about to do? I'm going to go to church today, Lord. Bless it. Could you ask God to bless you going to church?

Well, I think so. How about we're going to go out and have a nice meal afterwards, Lord? Would you bless it? Of course, you can ask Him to bless it. How about this?

Hey, we're going to go out and get drunk tonight, Lord. Would you bless it? And help us not get a DUI. No, I I don't think you could pray that. Oh, I'm going to have sex with my boyfriend or my girlfriend, Lord.

I ask you to bless it. No, I don't think you could ask God to bless it. And I bring that up because there are things that we do that are clearly not for the glory of God.

So in the Lord's prayer, the model for all prayer I say My Father, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. And number two, when I pray, I should always ask for the will of God to be done. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. There are times when it's hard to do God's will.

It's counterintuitive, it's not popular. You will be mocked, you will be criticized, you will be harassed if you do the will of God. Even Jesus struggled with the will of his father in the Garden of Gethsemane, as you will recall. Because he recoiled from what was ahead of him, knowing that he would have to. bear the sin of all of the world, and be beaten and crucified.

And he said, Father, if there's any other way, let this cup pass from me. But then he said, Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. We all should pray that.

So it's okay to pray for God to bless you. It's okay to ask for God to provide for you. It's okay to ask for God to guide you. But always add this caveat. But thy will be done.

So, if what I am praying right now is somehow outside of your will, I invite you to overrule it because I have come to discover that. Father knows best. I've come to see that God's will is better than my will. But listen to this. The objective of prayer is not to get God to do what I want him to do.

The objective of prayer is to align my will with his will. 1 John 5, 14 says, This is the confidence we have in him. If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us, and we have the petitions desired of him. You say, Well, Greg, how do I discover the will of God? Here's how.

With this book. with the Bible. As I read the Bible, as I understand the stories of the Bible, I learn about the nature of God, the plan of God, the purpose of God, and yes, the will of God.

So I want to align myself with that. Number three, we should pray for God's kingdom to come. Look at verse 2, your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Now, this is a multi-leveled request with different shades of meaning. When we pray, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. What is the kingdom of God?

Well, it's a relationship with God, effectively. On one occasion, Jesus said, The kingdom of God is in the midst of you. What he meant was, I am here with you. When Jesus is ruling and reigning in your life, that's the kingdom of God. And so when Jesus tells us, Matthew 6:33, to seek first the kingdom of God in his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you, means put Christ first in your life.

When I pray this prayer, I'm saying, Lord, I want your kingdom in my life. I want your rule and reign in my life. But listen to this, you can't pray, thy kingdom come, until you're first willing to pray, my kingdom go. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. But this is also a request for the return of Jesus Christ.

to the earth. The word that Jesus uses here for kingdom does not primarily refer to a geographical territory, but to sovereignty and dominion.

So effectively, I'm praying for God's rule on earth. In fact, the word used here for come means a sudden, instantaneous coming.

So when I pray, your kingdom come, I'm saying, Lord. Come back again. Lord Jesus, return to this earth as the Apostle John prayed, even so come, Lord Jesus. There's a teaching in the church today that has gained some prominence, known as the Prederist view. And the word preteris comes from a Latin word that means past.

And so a preterist would believe that many of the things we would say are in the future have already taken place. such as the second coming of Jesus Christ. Oh, that's already happened. Oh, the Antichrist, so that already happened. That happened in 70 AD when Titus and the Roman legions came in and conquered Jerusalem.

So these are not future events, these are past events.

So instead of looking forward to the return of Christ, they would say it's already happened spiritually.

Well, I strongly disagree with this, of course. Because the Bible says He that has this hope, that is the hope of the coming of Christ, purifies himself even as he is pure. I think it's very important for us to look forward to the return of Jesus. And I don't know when Jesus will come. He could come at any moment.

I am not a datesetter, but I do believe there'll be an appointed moment when Christ will come again, and we need to be ready for that day. 2 Peter 3 says, Dear friends, while you're waiting for these things to happen, live pure and blameless lives. Jesus even talked about the wicked servant who would say, My Lord delays his coming.

So any teaching that tells me Christ is not coming and I should not live in anticipation of that. is a teaching I reject. Because I'm taught to pray, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven.

So we should all be praying for that to happen as soon as it can. This, by the way, is also an evangelistic prayer. I'm praying for the kingdom to come into the lives of others as well, that others would believe. You know, people have asked me, what happened to your mom? Because in the Jesus Revolution film, It's never completely resolved.

Well, I'm happy to report that my mother did eventually come to Christ. It took her quite a while. I prayed for her for over 30 years. But finally, I would describe it more as a recommitment. When she was 70, my mom recommitted her life to the Lord, and sadly, she went to be with the Lord.

Only a month or so after that. But we need to pray for people we know that don't know the Lord and never give up on them. And never stop praying for them. I'll address that in a moment, but keep praying for them. And we don't.

Want to pressure them or push them. We want to pray that God will open their hearts.

So we're praying, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Lord, open their eyes to see their need for you. In Isaiah 53, 12, we read that Jesus interceded for the transgressors. And you remember from the cross, he said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

So it's totally appropriate and biblical to pray for people that don't know the Lord. I remember I was over in Maui some years ago, and I was in a little restaurant called Leota's that has the best hamburger on the island. That's all you're going to remember from this sermon. What was Greg's sermon about? I don't know, but the best burger on the island.

Is that some place called Leotis? And so I was in Leotis. And I had ordered something, and then some lady recognized me and she said, Are you Greg Laurie? I said, Yes, I am. She said, Well, I want you to talk to my husband because he's a non-believer.

And he's a sinful man. Pastor?

So you need to tell him he needs to put his faith in Jesus. And this poor guy had gotten a burger and he was holding it, and he was just about to take his first bite. He's holding the burger. While she's saying this. and say something to him pastor and i looked at him i thought this poor guy I wanted to say, I'm really sorry about your wife, buddy.

She does not represent all of us. And say something to my husband who's not a Christian. I looked at him and I said, hey man, enjoy your burger. I felt so bad. Great, you didn't preach a sermon to him.

Now I think the guy's heard a few sermons, you know. But you know what? We think we can pressure people into believing. That has the opposite effect, ladies. That is not how you reach a man.

You can't nag him into the kingdom. It's interesting that the Bible says. If you're married to a man who's not a believer, you'll win him to the Lord without a word. By the way that you live. There comes a point when the sermons are done and it's time to start being the sermon and living the sermon.

and love him into the kingdom of God, or love her into the kingdom of God.

So we are to pray. There you go. One person agrees, and you just went along with it. Number four, we need to bring our personal needs before God. Give us this day Our daily bread.

Isn't it an amazing thing that the Almighty God Who is omnipresent, omniscient. Cares about our daily needs. And when we say, give us this day our daily bread, we're just talking about the things of life that we need. Later on in Luke chapter 11, verse 11, Jesus says, of his son, ask for bread. From any father among you, will you give him a stone?

If he asked for a fish, would you give him a snake instead of a fish? If he asked for an egg, would you offer him a scorpion?

So, if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? Makes total sense. Daddy, can I have bread? No, but you can have a rock instead. Can I have an egg?

No, but here's a snake for you to hold. I mean, it's absurd. It's meant to be absurd. You're meant to chuckle at that because of the absurdity of it. Because a good father would want to give to his children.

Fathers want to provide. They want to protect. They want to do what God has called them to do. I should say most fathers, not all necessarily, but most do, really. And as I said earlier, Jesus said, it is your Father's good pleasure to give to you the kingdom.

Give us this day our daily bread. The Jews would eat bread pretty much with every meal. Nobody was on the keto diet. What's a new one now? The carnivore diet.

What is that exactly? You eat animals while they're still living? I mean, that's what a carnivore does, right? Yes, I bite the chicken in the neck and then I eat it while it's still alive.

Well, I don't think that's a carnivore dad. I get it. It's all me and I understand. But nobody was on a carnivore diet or an Atkins diet. They would eat bread with their meal.

And when we speak of bread, we're just speaking of the necessities of life.

So when I say give me this day my daily bread, I'm acknowledging that I need God. I'm acknowledging that I need his provision. I need a roof over my head. I need a paycheck. I need clothes on my back.

I need food on my table. Give me this day my daily bread. Notice it doesn't say, pay me this day, my daily bread, but give it. I'm asking God, the Creator and the Provider, to provide my needs. Number five, I need to pray for personal forgiveness and also forgive others.

Jesus says, and pray this: forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us.

Now, some might say, well, what? We're supposed to pray this on a regular basis. Notice it's next to give us this day our daily bread. Which implies if I'm to pray daily for provision, I should also pray daily for forgiveness.

Well, I don't know that I need to pray every day. Forgive me my sins. I don't think I've even sinned today. Haven't you? You know, there's different ways that we sin.

There are sins of commission and omission. A sin of commission is when I do what I should not do, like cross the line and break a commandment. or falls short of the standards of God. But then a sin of omission is when I don't do what I should do. The Bible says, to him that knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

So the Lord might have spoken to my heart today and said, Put your phone down and open up your Bible. I didn't do that. Or he might have said, apologize to your wife for being so short-tempered with her, or do this other thing. You know, so there are things that we don't do that are the will of God that can also be said. Suffice it to say, you sin more than you think you sin, and you need to ask God every single day to forgive you of your sins.

And the good news is he will. Because 1 John 1:9 says, Of we will confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So forgive my sins as I forgive those who have sinned against me. Emicius Lewis at once said, Everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea until they have someone to forgive. Right? That's true, isn't it? Oh, I love forgiveness.

Yes, that's a good teaching in the Bible. But when it comes to me forgiving someone who has hurt me or has taken advantage of me, that's another thing. I think one of the most powerful recent examples of forgiveness. is when Erika Kirk, The widow of Charlie Kirk, who was tragically assassinated, said publicly at his memorial service, I forgive the young man who did this. It was a powerful demonstration.

of what a Christian should do. And it's not an easy thing to do. But actually, studies have been done that suggest that forgiving others will actually lengthen your life. Recent studies suggest that those that do not forgive are more likely to experience high blood pressure, bouts of depression, and problems with anger, stress, and anxiety. See, when I forgive a person, I set a prisoner free.

Me. Because so often those that harbor unforgiveness are hurting themselves. Not forgiving someone is like drinking rat poison and waiting for the rat to die. See, you drank it, it's polluting you, it's destroying you, your lack of forgiveness is hurting you even more than the person you're unwilling to forgive. And this is why the Bible says in Ephesians 4:30, Don't bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live.

Get rid of bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior. Be kind to each other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. And then we need to pray that we don't fall into temptation. Look at verse 13. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

We're really saying, Lord, don't allow me to be tempted above my capacity to resist. There's always a way out of every temptation. 1 Corinthians 10.13 says, There is no temptation taking you, but such as is common to man. But God, who is faithful, will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. this paraphrase, there's a way out.

And you know that, and I know that, and we all know that. And so I'm saying, Lord, don't let me be tempted above my capacity to resist. Keep me from the evil one.

So there it is, the Lord's Prayer. Quick flyover.

Now those little pias from Jesus. And this is point number six. Keep praying about whatever you're praying about, even if the answer does not come. Jesus says in Luke chapter 11, verse 9: I say to you, ask and it shall be given you, seeking you will find. knock and it will be open to you.

Keep praying about it. Listen to this. If the request is wrong, God says no. If you are wrong, God says, grow. But if the request is right and the timing is right and you are right, God says go.

It's up there on the screen. If the request is wrong, God says no. So you pray about something, God says no. By the way, that is an answer to prayer. No is an answer, maybe not the answer you wanted.

But if the request is wrong, God says no. If the timing is wrong, God says slow.

Sometimes we have the right idea, but our timing is off.

So we shouldn't stop praying about it. We should keep praying about it. If you are wrong, God says grow. But if the request is right and the timing is right and you are right, God says go. So Jesus says, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened.

The Lord's language is unusually compelling because the three verbs he uses are important. They have an ascending intensity. Ask just means to request assistance. I just ask for something. But then seek.

Denotasking, but then taking action. And then not means Asking, acting, plus persevering.

So let's say you're in a restaurant. And you want some more coffee. And so the server goes by and says, Excuse me, can I get a little more coffee? They don't hear you.

So they come by again, five minutes later. Hello, could I get a little more coffee, please? Could you have some more coffee? Still they don't respond.

So then you just go pour the coffee yourself. Probably not a good idea.

So don't tick off servers, by the way. You don't want them taking vengeance on you. But the idea here is, I'm not going to give up in prayer. The Bible tells the story of James the Apostle who was martyred for his faith. The church was devastated.

And then he and then Peter Was arrested by King Herod. And so we read these simple words in Acts chapter 12, verse 1. And constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. Constant prayer, that means they prayed with intensity, not some casual prayer, but a storm the throne of heaven kind of a prayer. Constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.

They recognized the power of praying together. Pray with other Christians. Don't just pray by yourself. Notice that the Lord's Prayer. Is as follows.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Give us this day our, our daily bread. Notice it's our. This is something we do together.

Yes, you can pray it all by yourself, of course, but it is something that we engage in because the Bible says when two or more are gathered together. Praying, agreeing on anything, it will be done of your Father in heaven.

Now, obviously, that means they're aligned with the will of God and praying accordingly. But there's power in united prayer. Ask and it shall be given. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and the door shall be opened.

Prayer. What a privilege. And it's only for the child of God.

Now an unbeliever can pray. And I said earlier that I prayed a few times in my life, God help. God, if you get me out of this, I promise I'll serve you. I didn't really keep up my end of the bargain. But I did call out to God.

But then one day I discovered I could have a relationship with him and he could be my father in heaven. But the thing that stops that from happening is called sin. It's like a big giant wall, and you can't scale that wall. You can't tunnel under that wall. The only way you can overcome it is through what Jesus did for you on the cross when He died for your sins.

God says, It's not that my ear is heavy and I cannot hear. It's not that my arm is short, that I can't save you. It's that your sins have separated you from me. But having said that, and I quoted this verse already, God also says, if you will confess your sin, He's faithful and just to forgive you your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Jesus told a story about two people that went into the temple to pray.

One was a religious dude, a Pharisee. And he was so full of self-righteousness, he literally prayed, God, I thank you that I'm not like other men, especially like this creep next to me. who happened to be a tax collector. They were very unpopular back then.

Meanwhile, that text collector, that sinner, simply prayed this: God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And a better translation would be: God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Like I'm the worst of all of them. And Jesus said, That man went down, justified, not the other guy. God heard the prayer of the sinner.

So if you don't have a relationship with Jesus, you can pray the sinner's prayer, if you will. Where you say, God, be merciful to me, the sinner, and God will hear your prayer, He will forgive you, and you can begin this new relationship with Him. The barrier is gone, access is opened. He welcomes you into His presence. Have you done that yet?

Jesus says, Behold, I stand at the door and I knock. And if you'll hear my voice and open the door, I will come in. God wants to be your father. God wants to be your daddy, your papa, your abba. He wants you to have access to him.

Will you come to him now and believe? that can happen for you right here, right now. In a moment we're going to pray and I'm going to extend an invitation in this prayer. For you to come into this relationship of the all-knowing, ever-present. All-powerful Creator of the universe.

Who wants to have a relationship with you? He's just a prayer away. Let's pray. Father, I pray for everyone here and others who are watching. If they don't know you yet, let this be the moment they believe.

Let this be the moment they come to you and find forgiveness for all of their sins. and begin this new relationship with you.

Now while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying. Maybe there's someone here or someone watching who wants this relationship with God. You want your sin forgiven. You want to know with certainty that you'll go to heaven when you die. You want Christ to come and Live in your heart.

You want to have this relationship with God Almighty through prayer. You're ready to say yes to Jesus. If you want Jesus to come into your life, If you want him to forgive you of your sin. If you want to go to heaven when you die, I want you to raise your hand up right now, wherever you are, and I'm going to pray for you. God bless you.

Raise it up hard where I can see it. Let me pray for you. God bless you and you. Anyone else? God bless you and you.

Raise your hand up. Let me pray for you today. God bless you. Anybody else? Raise your hand up.

God bless you. Maybe you're watching one of our screens. one of our campuses or an overflow area, you can raise your hand to swell. Just raise your hand up.

Now I'm going to ask every one of you that raise your hand, if you would, please. I want you to stand to your feet. And I'm going to lead you in a prayer. Stand to your feet. If you raise your hand.

Even if you did not, would you want this relationship with God? You want Christ to come into your life? Stand up and let me lead you in prayer. Right here, right now, wherever you are, whatever campus you're at, stand up. Stand up wherever you are.

Let me pray with you. This is between you and God. And he'll hear this prayer and he'll answer this prayer. Anybody else? Maybe you didn't raise your hand, but you want Jesus to come into your life.

Let me lead you in this prayer. Stand up. We're going to pray together. I'll wait one more moment. Anybody else stand now?

Let me pray with you. God bless you. All right, you that are standing, I want you to pray this out loud after me. Again, as I pray, just pray this out loud right where you stand. Pray these words, Lord Jesus.

I know that I'm a sinner. But I know you're the Savior. Who died on the cross for my sin? and rose again from the dead. Jesus, I want a relationship with you.

Come into my life right now. I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for hearing this prayer. In answering this prayer, In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

God bless all of you that stood and prayed that prayer. God bless you guys. Hey everybody, thanks for listening to this podcast. To learn more about Harvest Ministries, follow this show and consider supporting it. Just go to harvest.org.

And to find out how to know God personally, go to harvest.org and click on know God. Yeah.